The Stage Managers’ Association (SMA) has announced its annual Del Hughes Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Art of Stage Management. The distinguished 2022 honorees are corporate, event, and theatrical stage manager Andrew Feigin, opera stage manager Raymond Menard, and theatrical stage manager Bernita Robinson. In addition to these Lifetime Achievement Awards, the SMA will honor Marguerite Price with The Founders Award and Narda E. Alcorn and Lisa Porter with a Special Recognition Award.
The Del Hughes honor is awarded to those who represent the finest qualities and artistic achievement in stage management throughout their lifelong career. Instituted in 1986, the award was named for Del Hughes, who had an illustrious career as a Broadway and television stage manager as well as a TV director from 1933 to the 1970s. Honorees are chosen each February from nominations submitted by industry members. The Del Hughes Awards Event will take place on Monday, October 24th, 2022, with details to be announced.
About the Honorees
Andrew Feigin’s career has spanned a joyous blend of genres and institutions for 47 years. He has stage managed at numerous LORT Theaters, Radio City Music Hall, Broadway, BAM, NY City Opera, National Dance Institute. As a DGA stage manager, broadcasts include the Tony Awards and Kennedy Center Honors. Since forming AppleFig Productions in 2000, he has stage managed hundreds of corporate events. Feigin taught stage management at NYU from 2004-2015. Married to Mimi Apfel for 38 years, they are the proud parents of Ben and Hannah and granddaughter Olivia.
Raymond Menard joined the New York City Opera as Stage Director in 1978 where he received the Julius Rudel Award for excellence in artistic administration. In 1987 Menard was invited to join the stage management team at the Metropolitan Opera and for the past twelve years has been the Met’s Production Stage Manager. A passionate arts advocate, educator and mentor, he has taught at the University of Georgia and currently teaches music in the Theater Department of Columbia University School of the Arts. A member since 1978, Menard is the President of the American Guild of Musical Artists.
Bernita Robinson, having grown up in New York City and deciding to become a stage manager at 13, it’s no surprise that her 35-year career, as an Actors’ Equity stage manager spans Broadway, Off Broadway, LORT and travel within North America and parts of Africa. Credits include Sarafina!, Cats, Jelly’s Last Jam, Show Boat, the original Ragtime, A Moon for the Misbegotten, the first production of Carmen Jones in 75 years and the recent Broadway revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf. Robinson has been an active AEA member and is currently serving as Councilor.
Marguerite Price will be honored with The Founders Award for her service to the SMA, specifically for her initiative in leading the Regional Representation Committee in building a national presence, followed by serving as the SMA Chair. As a stage manager, Price was privileged to support artists in professional theatre for 28 years. She had artistic homes at regional theatres within the Greater Philadelphia Area: Act II Playhouse, Bristol Riverside Theatre, Delaware Theatre Company, Foundation Theatre. She served as a member of the AEA Philadelphia Liaison Committee 1992 – 2007 and the Chair from 2005-2006.
Narda E. Alcorn and Lisa Porter will be acknowledged with a Special Recognition Award. At a time when equity and diversity were, and are, very much in the front of everyone’s consciousness, their writings and the breadth of their public appearances prompted many explorations and conversations about how we approach our art and craft and engage in truly anti-racist stage management practices. In 2020, professors and stage managers Alcorn and Porter published Stage Management Theory as a Guide to Practice: Cultivating a Creative Approach. Later that year, they published We Commit to Anti-Racist Stage Management Education in HowlRound Theatre Commons. Their research has been cited in multiple publications including the New York Times, American Theatre, and Stage Directions.
About the Stage Managers’ Association
The Stage Managers’ Association of the United States (SMA) is the only national professional organization for working stage managers across the United States. Our mission is to recognize, advocate for, and provide continuing education and networking opportunities, creating community for stage managers across the USA and connecting them with the world through our International Cohort.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary year, the Stage Managers’ Association is a pivotal resource for stage managers nationwide in all areas of live performance. With a growing national membership, the SMA promotes networking opportunities through its many initiatives such as Operation Observation, Collaborative Connections, and A View from the Wings Symposia. SMA members include top Broadway, Off Broadway, Corporate, Regional, Dance, and Opera stage managers as well as students and those just beginning their careers.
The Stage Managers’ Association strives for equity, fairness, diversity and inclusion. As stage managers we are discreet in our dealings with Productions, Producers and employers. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages, strive toward equitable treatment of our members, and support members who nurture diversity and equity in their places of work and in their broader communities.
Further information from the Stage Managers’ Association: www.stagemanagers.org
